Archive for the ‘Dave MacDonald’ tag

Dave MacDonald, in his Bill Stroppe Mercury. Photo courtesy the National Corvette Museum.

In 108 career starts, most behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Corvette, Dave MacDonald drove to 46 victories and 68 podium finishes in his all-too-brief professional career. He was called “the best Corvette driver” by Zora Arkus-Duntov. Even Carroll Shelby admitted that MacDonald “had more raw talent probably than any race driver I ever saw.” Not content to simply race Corvettes (and later Cobras for Carroll Shelby), MacDonald even commuted to his job at Shelby’s shop behind the wheel of a 1963 Sting Ray. Fittingly, he will be included in this year’s list of inductees into the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame.

MacDonald got his start in drag racing in 1956, when he began campaigning his 1955 Chevrolet Corvette at tracks in the Los Angeles area. By the close of the decade, he’d amassed more than 100 wins in the quarter-mile, but looked to expand his horizons to road racing. His first race was at California’s Willow Springs in February of 1960, and he drove to a surprising fourth-place finish in his debut event. The winner that day was Bob Bondurant, who later said of MacDonald, “I thought, where’d this guy come from? He was so quick.” Bondurant also commented on MacDonald’s assertive, tail-out driving style, saying, “He was very aggressive and he had a lot of car control. He’d put that Corvette sideways and drive it all around the corner that way. I drove a little smoother, but we were both just as quick.”

By the end of the 1962 season, “The Master of Oversteer” had racked up 28 wins in 63 races, and clearly seemed destined for a bright future in racing. MacDonald’s big break came in 1963, when Carroll Shelby hired him to drive his oversteer-prone Shelby Cobra, and MacDonald didn’t disappoint. His first race for Shelby resulted in a pair of wins at Riverside, driving CSX2026 in both the AP and BP classes. By the end of the season, MacDonald had put up a string of wins and podium finishes, and had even helped the team debut its King Cobra sports racer, delivering wins at Riverside and Laguna Seca in October behind the wheel of chassis CM/1/63.

In 1964, he was back with the Shelby team, piloting everything from Cobras to King Cobras to Cobra Daytona Coupes. He also signed with Bill Stroppe to campaign 21 races for Ford in NASCAR, and in the 1964 Daytona 500, managed a 10th place finish in just his fourth NASCAR start. Seeing his obvious talent, Mickey Thompson recruited MacDonald to drive in May’s Indianapolis 500, and his commitment to drive for Thompson in a possibly under-developed car proved to be his undoing.

Though much speculation exists about the build-up to the 1964 Indy 500 (including a quote attributed to Jim Clark, advising MacDonald to “Get out of that car, mate; just walk away.”), this much is certain: The change from the 12-inch tires used on Thompson’s Indy cars in 1963 to the 15-inch tires required by USAC for the 1964 running adversely impacted the handling of MacDonald’s #83 Sears-Allstate Special. On the day of the race, MacDonald started from the fifth row, in the 14th position on the grid. At the green flag, MacDonald charged through the field, quickly picking up five positions in the opening lap. As the second lap came to an end, something went wrong: MacDonald’s car spun and hit the inside wall, bursting into flames as the car’s full load of gasoline ignited. Sliding up the track, MacDonald’s car was struck broadside by the car of Eddie Sachs, resulting in a second explosion and fire which claimed the life of Sachs.

MacDonald succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital hours later, and the racing world lost a driver who many believe had not yet lived up to his potential. Given how much of his life MacDonald devoted to racing and driving Corvettes, his induction into the Hall of Fame is a fitting tribute to his passion for the brand.

John Heinricy. Photo courtesy of the National Corvette Museum.

Other 2014 inductees include John Heinricy, who amassed 11 SCCA National Championships behind the wheel of a Corvette, helped to develop the Corvette Showroom Stock racing program and was part of the team that drove a 1989 Corvette ZR-1 to a 24-hour speed and distance record. Heinricy has also served as manager of the Corvette Development Group at the GM’s proving grounds in Milford, Michigan, as well as the assistant chief engineer responsible for development of the fourth-generation Corvette.

Journalist and author Jerry Burton joins Heinricy and MacDonald in rounding out this year’s crop of inductees. For additional information, visit CorvetteMuseum.org.